July 4 Party 2011

We had lots of family commitments over the July 4 weekend, but we finally got out for a relaxing day of diving with friends. After spending much of the spring with students in the pool and up at Dutch, it was nice to hit the ocean.

Topside, there was just a slight breeze under a hazy sky. Given the small group, Captain George picked a small wreck that is not often hit. Condition reports this spring had been spotty, so we were very pleasantly surprised at the 70 of surface vis, and 30 ft of bottom vis. At 75 ft, the temp was 51 degrees with a very slight surge It was an old wooden barge with chain pile and small donkey boiler. Like most wooden vessels, the barge provided rows of low holes for lobster and seabass. The chain pile had holes large enough for larger seabass and tog. Some nice size lobsters came up along with piles of seabass. While there were a number of fluke on the wreck only one was found large enough to catch.

Back at the dock, we set up tents, and unpacked the grill and beverages. After an enjoyable barbeque, we packed up and headed home. A relaxing end to a busy week.